Thomas Dodge was born in 1900, the son of Henry Chee Dodge

Henry Chee Dodge

Henry Chee Dodge , also known in Navajo by his nicknames ' and ' , was chairman of the Navajo Business Council from 1922 until 1928, and chairman of the then Navajo Tribal Council from 1942 until 1946. Thereafter, he became the first and only Navajo politician elected vice-president who died...

 and half-brother of Annie Dodge Wauneka

Annie Dodge Wauneka

Annie Dodge Wauneka was an influential member of the Navajo Nation as member of the Navajo Nation Council. As a member and three term head of the Council's Health and Welfare Committee, she worked to improve the health and education of the Navajo. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom...

. He earned a law degree from St. Louis University Law School after which he took up a private practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was elected to the Navajo Tribal Council

Navajo Tribal Council

The Navajo Nation Council is the legislative branch of the Navajo Nation government. As stipulated in the Navajo Nation Code, "The Legislative Branch shall consist of the Navajo Nation Council and any entity established under the Navajo Nation Council...

 in 1933 and served as the chairman of the Council between 1933 and 1936. He presided over the Council during introduction of the Navajo Livestock Reduction

Navajo Livestock Reduction

The Navajo Livestock Reduction was imposed upon the Navajo Nation by the federal government in the 1930s. During the 1920s and into the 30s, the Federal Government decided that the land of the Navajo Nation could not support the increasingly large flocks of goats and sheep and the herds of cattle...

. Dodge respected the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier

John Collier (reformer)

John Collier was an American social reformer and Native American advocate. He served as Commissioner for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the President Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, from 1933-1945...

, who was recognized as a strong advocate for Native Americans

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

. In 1933, in advance of initiating the program, the Tribal Council met to discuss the plan. Dodge introduced Collier to the Tribal Council as "the 'Plumed Knignt' of the Indian cause". The program was widely opposed by the Navajo people who depended on their livestock for a livelihood. The Navajo also measured their wealth by the size of their herds. In 1935 Dodge was appointed assistant superintendent of the Navajo Agency, a division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Bureau of Indian Affairs

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...

(BIA). This put him in a position between representing the people of the Navajo Nation who opposed the program and the BIA which initiated it. In May, 1936, he resigned his position as chairman of the Council to work exclusively for the BIA. He spent the rest of his life working in various positions for the BIA. In 1965, he was awarded a the Distinguished Service Award of the Department of the Interior for his accomplishments during his career with the BIA.